Horizons At BFS

Academic Enrichment Committed to the Whole Child

Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School is an academic enrichment program serving low-income public school children living in the Brooklyn Navy Yard area. Our goal is to provide the academic support children need to stay on grade level, while simultaneously offering a rich and diverse enrichment curriculum. Committed to the development of the whole child, our professional faculty engages Horizons students in experiences that enhance self-esteem, encourage social-emotional growth, build problem solving and critical thinking skills, and foster a lifelong interest in learning.

Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School enrolls students from District 13 Public Schools PS 307, PS 67 and PS 8 in a six-week summer academic enrichment program and in the Brooklyn Friends school-year Afterschool Program. Children accepted into the program in kindergarten remain through eighth grade, with an additional kindergarten class added each summer. Learn more about the Horizons Experience here.

Or send a check with Horizons in the memo to:Brooklyn Friends School 375 Pearl Street Brooklyn, NY 11201

Facts & Statistics About The Horizons Program

1964

The first Horizons program is conceived by New Canaan Country School in CT

45

Horizons programs hosted by independent schools and colleges today

2/3

of students enrolled in each class are achieving at or below grade level

15:2

the ratio of students to teachers ensures individualized attention

2-3

months of academic growth shown on average each summer session

85%

of our students return every summer

The Horizons Model

The Horizons Model is Distinguished by:

Early elementary grade intervention with a commitment to multiple years of participation

Close collaboration with public schools to ensure continuity and cohesiveness in working with Horizons students

Strong parent/family engagement in the program

High teacher-to-student ratio with exemplary teachers and volunteers

Challenging curriculum with an experiential approach to learning

Cultural enrichment activities and organized athletics

Promoting the involvement of the nearby community in supporting the Horizons program

Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School offers a comprehensive academic program tailored to strengthen and reinforce traditional subjects like reading, writing, math, social studies, and science. The arts, taught by highly specialized teaching artists, play an important role in the program – enhancing our children’s confidence, supporting higher academic performance, and fostering constructive self-expression. Students participate in a variety of enrichment classes such as computer coding, visual art, theater, dance with Mark Morris Dance Group, West African drumming, chorus, recorder, and jazz band. Students enjoy field trips to the city’s many cultural institutions.

Every summer, Horizons students improve their swimming skills as assessed by swim instructors using Red Cross criteria. Learning to swim is a key component of the Horizons student experience. Becoming a competent swimmer builds confidence and a desire to achieve.

Horizons Afterschool

The Horizons at Brooklyn Friends Afterschool Program brings Horizons students into our school’s existing Afterschool program. Together with BFS students, Horizons participants engage in enrichment classes, including homework help, five days per week during the school year.

The Afterschool program fosters consistent and constant contact with Horizons at BFS families during the school year and provides space for creative and intellectual expansion, interaction between students of differing racial and economic backgrounds from neighboring communities, and dialogue around differences for both the Brooklyn Friends School and Horizons populations.

Our Horizons program is financially self-supported by funding from individual donors, foundations, and corporations. As a host school, Brooklyn Friends solely provides in-kind use of its space as well as guidance from the Head of School and Chief Financial Officer.

Brooklyn Friends School is the first New York City independent school to partner with Horizons National, the umbrella non-profit that provides assistance to all Horizons affiliates. Horizons National monitors program quality, conducts evaluations, provides staff and teacher training, facilitates peer support, promotes best practices, and develops knowledge products for the entire network. More information is available at horizonsnational.org.

“Horizons had a huge impact on my life. It allowed me to dream, to think big, to aspire. It let me see beyond my everyday world.”

Joe Chan, Executive Vice President of Business Development, Empire State Development Company, Founding Board Chair of Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School, and Horizons graduate